Forum Discussion

Explorer

Nov 09, 2020

White Knuckle Trip

I bought a 2001 Rialta QD recently. It slept 2-3 which is all I needed. I wanted an RV that handled well and was easy on gas. Because of the age, I expected to have to do a few upgrades. Because of the interest shown in this forum, I installed a transmission cooler

My first trip was into Michigan which went well. I found a few problems, but nothing serious.

My second trip was a little more adventurous. I was going to visit Utah's National Parks from Arches to Zion. Through what I call the flatlands everything went well. The problems started West of Denver. There are two stretches of 6% grade. The RV shifted from D to 3rd as expected, but was still not making progress. I shifted to 2nd and was able to stabilize at 40 mph. Meanwhile, semis and larger RVs were passing me easily. During this stretch and for the rest of the trip, it was white knuckle driving waiting for something to blow up. Once I got back to the flatlands, everything was fine.

I'm sure that many of the members have driven this route. My conclusion is that either the Rialta is under powered or that I have a problem with the transmission or engine. I am assuming that the interest in transmission cooling has to do with mountain driving.

So, my question is under powered or something else?

Class B

13 Replies

Desert_Captain
Explorer III
Nov 10, 2020
naturist wrote:
I know nothing of that particular rig, but I would point out that unless the engine is turbocharged, you lose a lot of power at altitude. I know that stretch of road goes from 5,000 feet to 11,000 feet, and non-turbo vehicles suffer greatly at those altitudes. That is one reason there are so many diesel recommendations here; diesels are almost always turbocharged and suffer no loss of power at altitude.

That loss is roughly 3 percent for every 1,000' of elevation. Do the math... at 8,000' you have lost 24 percent of your flatland HP. As noted turbocharged engines are immune but for most of us its can be a significant challenge out here in the west.

There are lots of gremlins that could be hurting the rigs performance from clogged fuel and/or air filters to simply needing a tuneup. You should expect better performance than that. Good luck.

:C
naturist
Nomad
Nov 10, 2020
I know nothing of that particular rig, but I would point out that unless the engine is turbocharged, you lose a lot of power at altitude. I know that stretch of road goes from 5,000 feet to 11,000 feet, and non-turbo vehicles suffer greatly at those altitudes. That is one reason there are so many diesel recommendations here; diesels are almost always turbocharged and suffer no loss of power at altitude.
Lwiddis
Explorer II
Nov 10, 2020
Your Rialta is twenty years old! It’s a Volkswagen chassis. Last tune up?